


Vulnerable

by sanctuary_for_all



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 10:28:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14134188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: Magnus isn't comfortable with being vulnerable. (Missing scene from 3X02)





	Vulnerable

**Author's Note:**

> I felt weird about the fact that I hadn't written any canonverse Malec. This is set between Malec's second-to-last and final scenes in 3X02.
> 
> (If it turns out I should apologize for this, I absolutely will.)

"You sure you're okay?" Clary asked, watching Magnus carefully. He'd been ushered to a chair the second he and Alexander had made it back upstairs, and Magnus couldn't shake a lingering embarrassment over how unsteady he must have looked. "I can get you anything you need. Just say the word."

"I promise you, Clary. I'm fine." He gave her a reassuring look. "Just tired. I had to hold the ley lines longer than I'd intended."

Clary scowled. "You shouldn't have had to." She looked back through the open doorway, in the direction Alexander had gone to deal with those who had locked him out of the system. "When we found out what Raj and his friends had done...."

"I'm sure Alexander will take care of it," Magnus reassured her again, feeling a brief and completely ridiculous sense of loss that he hadn't needed to follow up their heroic maneuver with his own administrative duties. It would take him awhile, he suspected, to truly make peace with the fact that he wasn't High Warlock anymore.

She turned back at his sigh, worried look firmly in place again. "Are you _sure_ you don't need anything?"

"I'm fine." He fought to keep the temper from rising in his voice, knowing she was only being so solicitous because she cared. It wasn't her fault that one of the first lessons life had taught him was that vulnerability meant danger. "I'll just wait here for Alexander."

Clary looked eager, clearly galvanized by the thought of something to do. "I'll go see if he's done," she said, slipping out of the room like she was on a mission.

Magnus sighed again, hoping that she wouldn't interrupt Alexander during something important. Punishing his disobedient Shadowhunters was undoubtedly not the only problem requiring the immediate attention of the Head of the New York Institute, especially now that they knew an extremely powerful demon was loose somewhere in the city.

He closed his eyes, ashamed at his own relief that it wasn't Asmodeus. It would be easier, in a lot of ways, if it _had_ been him. He was a known quantity, if nothing else, and Magnus knew he could handle his magic.

But this way, Magnus was clean of it. He wouldn't have to tell anyone else who his father was, wouldn't have to—

"How are you feeling?"

Magnus opened his eyes immediately at the sound of Alexander's voice. There was a harried quality to the way he slipped into the room, the mark of a man who has responsibilities nipping around every corner, but his expression softened the moment their eyes met. There was no genuine worry on his face, only the gentle concern with which he took care of anyone who mattered to him.

Magnus smiled. "Fit as a metaphorical fiddle." He sat up straighter, trying to project alertness. "I'm ready to leave whenever you are."

"Are you sure you're okay to portal us home?" Alexander asked, crouching down in front of Magnus's chair. "I _do_ have a room here we could use, even though the bed isn't nearly as comfortable."

Magnus smiled a little, feeling the same secret burst of pleasure he always did when Alexander used the word "us" so casually. No matter how many times he heard it, he didn't think he would ever take it for granted. "Now that we've fixed the ley lines, I could portal us home in my sleep," he said, leaning forward to brush a thumb lightly over his boyfriend's cheek. "I have, occasionally, including one particularly memorable incident where I was exhausted enough to forget that I had moved the year before."

Alexander smiled as he straightened, offering Magnus a hand. "Sounds like a story."

Magnus accepted the hand, pulling himself upright. When he made it to his feet, however, his legs informed him that perhaps he'd been a bit too ambitious. They wavered, his strength not able to rally enough to keep him upright.

He clung to Alexander, who immediately moved close enough to offer support. "Okay, so it looks like we should delay that portal home a little bit."

"I'll be fine." He let out a breath, willing his body to behave. "Just give me a moment."

"You've got all the time you need," Alexander said, a simple statement of fact. Then his voice gentled. "But you're the one who taught me that I don't have to push myself all the time."

Magnus turned to look at Alexander's face, seeing an understanding there that made his throat tighten. "I forget that sometimes," he said finally, voice thick.

In all the years he'd been alive, he didn't think he'd ever been taken care of quite as well as Alexander managed it. Slowly but surely, it was making being vulnerable seem like a far less terrifying prospect than it had once been. 

Alexander smiled, as if he could hear everything Magnus wasn't saying. "Don't worry," he said softly. "I'll be here to remind you."

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my [original fiction,](https://jennifferwardell.wixsite.com/mybooks) my [blog,](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


End file.
